We Will Get Through This
by dmaeq
Summary: Emily Fields' life is turned upside down due a mountain biking accident. Her wife Alison helps her cope with the changes and issues that arise from the accident and the injuries.
1. Chapter 1

We Will Get Through This Chapter I

Emily Fields was loading up her SUV with suitcases . Her mountain bike was on a rack behind the vehicle. She was happy to get away for the weekend with her friends Toby and Spencer. They were going to Spencer's family cabin in the Poconos. As she finished loading up she looked back at her wife Alison on the porch.

Alison smiled and Emily said, "Are you sure you don't want to go?"

"I have to cover at the office tomorrow until noon. You go ahead. You love mountain biking and you deserve to have some fun." Alison replied as she walked off the porch and towards Emily.

Emily got close to her and kissed her.

The brunette said, "I'll give you a call tomorrow morning"

"Sure." Alison said.

* * *

It was Saturday morning and Alison was at the real estate office doing a monthly record archiving. She took occasional sips of coffee in between the tasks. The office's radio system was on at a low level. It was around 11 am when her phone rang.

"DiLaurentis Real Estate, this is Alison speaking." She said into the receiver.

"Ali it's me Toby" A male voice said.

"Toby, what is it?" She asked.

"It's about Emily there's been an accident."

Her heart sank and she responded, "What happened? Is she ok?"

"We were mountain biking and she hit a bad patch of rocks and tumbled down. She's being airlifted to Philadelphia. We'll met you there."

She was shaking and after hanging up with Toby called her brother Jason to drive her to Philadelphia.

The blonde was crying during the car ride. Flashes of Emily filled her mind. They finally arrived at one of the large hospitals. They were directed to a waiting room.

After twenty minutes a female doctor came out.

"Are you the wife of Emily Fields? I'm Dr. Victoria Hamilton" She said.

"Yes. How is she?"

The doctor looked Ali in the eyes, "There are multiple injuries. Her left leg is broken in two places, three broken ribs, left wrist is broken, broken nose, various cuts on her body. The most serious injury is that her neck is broken and we are prepping her for surgery to stabilize her spinal cord and put her in a halo brace."

Alison almost dropped to the ground, but Jason held her up.

Dr. Hamilton said, "Usually with injuries to the spinal cord, there is paralysis. When the surgeons go in they will see which cervical vertebrae was damaged and they can determine how the quadriplegic level. Your wife is in for a long recovery. She will need surgery later on for the broken nose. We are setting the broken leg right now and getting in a cast. We need you to sign the forms for surgery. You won't be able to see her before."

Alison then reached for the clipboard and signed the forms. She sat down with Jason holding her.

It was later when Toby and Spencer arrived.

Both were visibly upset and comforted Alison.

It was seven hours later when two surgeons, one male and female came out.

The female surgeon identified herself as Dr. Susan Parker and the male as Dr. Evan Michaels.

Dr. Parker said, "The spinal cord was severed at the c6 and c7 levels which means the sixth and seventh vertebrae in Emily's neck were impacted. She will be paralyzed from the armpits down. She will have use of her arms but they will be weakened a bit in the tricep area. The wrists will be weakened and she won't have finger use. She will have to undergo extensive rehab to learn to use a wheelchair and do daily living tasks. Although, she might need help in her day to day life. We had to do a tracheotomy to assist with breathing because neck injuries take a toll on the diaphragm and lungs. We will get her off the tracheotomy and ventilator in a few weeks. She won't be able to communicate with a full voice during that time. She will be in a halo brace for the next 12 weeks.

Dr. Evans spoke, "I repaired her broken wrist. Luckily there was no need for plates or pins. She will be in casts for a few months. The broken leg didn't require surgery, but we will be monitoring the injury and doing weekly cast changes for awhile. An ENT doctor will be monitoring the broken nose and then will advise on when to get it repaired.

Alison stood in shock trying to take in all the details. After moments she asked, "When can I see her?"

Dr. Parker smiled thoughtfully and said, "In about two hours. The ICU staff is getting her set up. She will be heavily sedated for the couple of days."

The blonde just nodded.

* * *

It was two hours later when a nurse guided her into the ICU room. She started to weep at the sight of Emily. The first thing she noticed was the halo brace. A black metal ring was around Emily's head and secured with pins and screws and a plastic light tan vest was attached and secured around Emily's chest and torso. A hospital gown had been threaded underneath. In Emily's neck, a hole was cut for the tracheotomy and the ventilator was attached. There were IVs in the right arm and beeping monitors were making sounds in the room. The brunette's broken leg was in a baby blue cast from hip to toes and was propped up on pillows. The wrist was in a splint and placed ontop of a pillow. Emily's broken nose was swollen and misshapen a bit.

The nurse left the room after several minutes.

Ali didn't say anything at first. She said, "I'm here Emily. I'm so sorry this happened."

* * *

 **Author's Note: This story touches a personal note for me. I've written other spinal cord injury related stories because I have a spinal cord injury and I'm in wheelchair. I'm a C7 quadriplegic so my injury is similar to what I've written for Emily. I was injured in a diving accident three years ago. Writing stories about lesbians with spinal cord injuries is therapeutic for me because I'm struggling to find love from another woman.**


	2. Chapter 2

We Will Get Through This Chapter II

Two days had passed since the accident. The medical staff was reducing the sedative medications. Pam Fields was with Ali and others in the hospital. Ali was slowly learning more about spinal cord injuries and how Emily's life would be. New worries grew inside of her about the subjects of urinary tract infections, muscle spams, and skin sores. Then there were the new non-medical worries such as making a home wheelchair accessible, getting modified vehicles, and whether Emily could continue her swimming coach career.

Ali was by Emily's bedside. She saw that Emily was becoming more conscious. The brunette's eyes were fluttering. She fully awoke and was frightened and tried to speak, but couldn't because the tracheotomy and ventilator.

Ali said, "Stay calm, Em. There was an accident and you can't speak right now. I'm going to let the doctors tell you everything."

The surgeons and physicians who had been monitoring Emily came in and discussed everything and explained the paralysis and other injuries. She cried upon being told that there wasn't a cure for spinal cord injuries. After the doctors left, Ali took her right hand and said, "I'm here and I won't leave you."

Emily managed to mouth the words, "Are you sure you can love me like this?"

It took Ali awhile to figure out what Emily was mouthing without sound and she nodded and said, "I know it won't be easy, but you're my wife and we will get through this."

Tears streamed down Emily's face and Ali gently wiped them with a tissue.

* * *

Two weeks had passed since the accident. The ventilator was taken off and Emily still had the trache as a way of prevent possible pneumonia. Friends and relatives visited and did their best to comfort her. She was depressed and hated being so helpless. Even though she could and lightly move her arms, she was spoon fed meals and she learned that in rehab she would learn to feed herself with special hand and wrist splints. Since the trache left her without a voice, she struggled sometimes to communicate with others. Luckily, Ali and Pam had gotten good with lip reading. She hated that she was dependent on a catheter for urinary issues and a bowel program that wasn't pleasant.

The doctors had been talking with physical therapists and they decided that Emily was well enough to be in a special stretcher chair with her broken leg propped up.

The physical therapists with the help of nurses placed her in the chair. The halo brace prevented her from moving her head to the sides. She the view straight ahead of her of Ali smiling.

Ali asked, "Does it feel good to be out of bed?"

Emily mouthed, "Yes".

One of the physical therapists Caroline said, "Soon, you will be moved to the rehab hospital down the street. There you will get to be out of bed more and we will get your custom wheelchair."

Emily hated hearing that word "wheelchair". But, she knew deep down she would have to come to an acceptance.

The therapists and nurses left the room later on so Ali could feed Emily lunch which consisted of soft foods like mashed potatoes, jello, and mashed vegetables.

After Ali finished feeding her, Emily looked at her and mouthed "Are you tired of this?"

"No I'm not. Like I've said before many times, you're my wife Em and I'm here for you. I'm sure if the roles were reversed you would do the same."

Emily then mouthed, "I would. But I worry about you Ali getting burned out."

"I'm fine Emily. You are the main focus here." She said before stroking Emily's cheek through the halo brace bars.

* * *

A week later, the tracheotomy was closed up and Emily was able to speak though it was painful at first and her voice was raspy.

She was taken to a orthopedic exam room to get her leg and wrist casts changed. Pam was with her.

The orthopedic technician sawed off the leg cast and the allowed Emily to pick a color for the new cast. She decided on a baby blue color and later chose the same for the wrist cast.

Ali came into the room and said, "I like the new cast colors."

She looked at Dr. Evans and said, "How are her bones healing?"

"The recent X-rays show that everything is healing up nice. I've approved her to be moved to rehab next week. I'll go to the rehab and do the next cast changes."

Emily smiled at the kind orthopedic surgeon and said, "I can wait until I'm free of casts and this halo brace."

"I can't imagine how the halo feels." Dr. Evans said.

"I sometimes feel like a human radio tower." Emily teased.

There was some chuckles in the room.

* * *

The day for the move to rehab came. Paramedics came in and assisted with getting Emily onto a stretcher. Ali was by her side with a couple of packed bags. The paramedics wheeled her out of the ICU and she said goodbye to the people who cared for her. A thick fleece zippered sweatshirt was put on her to keep her warm and blankets covered her legs.

She was loaded into an ambulance and Ali sat with her during the ride.

"Rehab is going to be so great for you." Ali said with a hopeful voice.

Emily knew she meant well and she too hoped for good things. But she was still depressed over the thought of not walking again or being completely independent.

Upon arrival at the rehab hospital, Caroline met with them and led them to Emily's single room. Nurses situated her in bed and Ali started to painting Emily's toenails.

Ali said, "This place seems clean and great. I'll come by tomorrow after work to visit you. I know it's going to be hard not being here with you, I need to get back to work and I'll be talking with my dad's contractor friends about doing some modifications. "

Emily said, "It's ok Ali. I'm a big girl and I can handle things here."

"If you need anything have someone call me ok." Ali said.

"I will."

* * *

The next day, Ali was at the real estate office when she received a call from Greenwood Fertility Clinic. She and Emily had visited the clinic several months before to discuss the possibly of going through artificial insemination and starting a family. Both women went through physical exams and had some of their eggs extracted for storage because they considered the option of one carrying a pregnancy using the other's eggs.

The doctor from the fertility clinic was Paula Grant who been kind to Emily and Alison during the previous visits.

Ali said into the phone, "It's good to hear from you Dr. Grant."

"Well, I was checking into see if you and your wife are ready to start a family." Dr. Grant said.

Ali then told her about Emily's accident and how she was in rehab.

"I'm not sure when my wife and I will be ready to start a family. For now, I want to focus on her recovery. Maybe in a year we will start looking through sperm donor files. I'm willing to carry a pregnancy and I wouldn't mind if Emily's eggs were used."

"Take all the time you need Alison. We will be here you and Emily when the time comes."

"Thank you." Ali said.

Several hours later, Ali was driving to the rehab hospital and was thinking about the topic of family. Both she and Emily talked about having kids while they were still engaged. Now their situation was different, but Ali believed that having children would be fine.

She finally pulled into the parking lot and went up to Emily's room. She found her wife in bed watching TV.

"Hey Emily, how did everything go today?"

"It wasn't too tough mainly the therapists did range of motion exercises on some of my limbs. " The brunette said.

"Dr. Grant from the fertility clinic called me today. She was curious to see if we were ready to start the process." Ali said.

"Did you tell her about my accident?"

"I filled in her and said we would have to wait." Ali said.

Emily then said, "Let's not have kids Ali."

"What? Why?" The blonde said.

"Ali look at me. I'm paralyzed and I won't even be able to use my fingers. Do you really think I could help you take care of a child? I need to learn to do some of my own care in this rehab place. I have to learn to feed myself with splints on my hands and do you think I can feed a baby with these hands" Emily said in an angry tone.

"We could find ways to adapt for a childcare. Our families could help us." Ali said.

"Ali, do you really want to give more stress to our families and friends? Emily said.

"I want us to have a life like some of our friends and relatives do with their kids. I want to carry your baby." Ali said.

Emily said again an angry tone, "We shouldn't bring any kids into our situation Ali. Let's drop this."

Ali started crying and then left the room.


	3. Chapter 3

We Will Get Through This Chapter III

Ali went out to her car after the argument. She cried more, but wiped away her tears as she calmed down. She knew that she needed to face the conflict with Emily over children and so she went back into Emily's room.

As she entered, Emily said, "I'm sorry Ali for flipping out at you. You didn't deserve that."

Ali went up to the bedside and said, "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have pushed the topic of children during a time like this. But, I do wish that we could have a family someday."

"Listen Ali, let's just take things slowly and figure out how my disability will effect us in the long run and then maybe could talk about having kids. Emily said.

Ali nodded in agreement.

Emily then said, "Can I have a kiss?"

The blonde smiled and kissed Emily in between the bars of the halo brace.

* * *

Over the next two months, the casts came off Emily's limbs and then came the day for the halo brace removal. Ali was in the room as a surgeon carefully removed the screws and pins from Emily's head. As the halo and vest were removed, a nurse put a plastic neck brace on Emily.

The surgeon said, "Emily, you will need the neck brace for two weeks as a precaution. From the x-rays I have looked at, everything looks good. I bet you're glad to be out of the halo."

Emily smiled and said, "I am. I felt weird being in that thing."

The surgeon said, "I'm going to do rounds. Page me if you need anything." The surgeon left the room and the nurse put Emily into her bed and left.

Emily looked at Ali and said, "I want to hold you in my arms".

Ali smiled and climbed into the bed carefully and put her head on Emily's chest. Emily slowly put her arms around Ali.

"I can't wait until you're home Emily."

'Me either. I just hope it doesn't get too much for you."

Ali said, "Emily, we have been through this before. We are married and I will do anything to make sure you're happy at home. Besides, you're able to feed yourself now and you are learning new tasks."

The next day, Emily started off with an occupational therapy session which focused on using a modified brush and comb to groom herself. After that, the physical therapists put her manual wheelchair and they put wheelchair gloves and taught her to use her wheelchair with the palms of her hands. It was a hard process and she only made it a few feet before tiring.

Then came a session with a counselor. The counselor was a paraplegic woman named Carrie Greenburg. Emily had sessions with her before, but today's session would be sexual issues.

Carrie said sitting across from Emily in her office, "Now, Emily I know you're a lesbian and your concerns are different. You won't be able to feel sexual pleasures down there and I dealt with that myself as a heterosexual a woman. But, there are ways to pleasure part through oral methods as you know. Do you have any concerns?

"I do have concerns. I will miss not being able to feel certain things and I worry about how that will effect my sexual relationship with my wife. I know we are already not seen as a normal in the world. Having a disability will probably make things more difficult."

Carrie empathically said, "You will need to maintain strong communication skills with your wife. Listen to her concerns and needs. I will give you some books about spinal injuries and sexual relationships, they cover all types of relationships."

Carrie and Emily talked about other subjects. Evening time came and she was in her room. The sexual subject books were put away in one of the nightstands.

Ali would be coming soon for her daily visit. Emily watched some TV and started to feel a bit ill. A nurse came in and felt Emily's head and took her temperature which was 101. Doctors came in and examined Emily and saw blood in her catheter. She was quickly diagnosed with a UTI.

When Ali arrived, the doctors briefed her on Emily's UTI and assured that antibiotics and medications were already started. She saw Emily looking ill with a cold compress on her head.

Emily was weak and said, "I hope things like this won't happen too much when I go home."

"Don't worry about home. Worry about right now and focus on getting better." Ali said as she stroked Emily's face.

Awhile later, Emily fell asleep and Ali had her own worries about the future and how Emily's spinal cord injury could effect her health in the long run.


End file.
